Iowa's Calvin Jones, a Steubenville product, was an All-American for the Hawkeyes and is considered one of the Big Ten's most dominant linemen. / Courtesy the University of Iowa Athletics Departme

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Larry Phillips | News Journal

Steubenville graduate Calvin Jones went on to have a stellar career at Iowa. He is one of two players to have his number retired in Hawkeyes' history, along with Heisman winner Nile Kinnick. / Photo courtesy the University of Iowa

Iowa's Calvin Jones, a Steubenville product, was an All-American for the Hawkeyes and is considered one of the Big Ten's most dominant linemen. / Courtesy the University of Iowa Athletics Departme

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STEUBENVILLE — It stands to reason one of Ohio’s roughest towns would breed one of its toughest linemen.

Calvin Jack Jones was born Feb. 7, 1933, in Steubenville — the youngest of seven children. Bigger, faster and stronger than anyone his age, Jones was a budding star by the time he reached Steubenville High School.

A backup as a freshman, he started at end on both lines as a sophomore. The 1948 and 1949 teams each were 5-5, nothing special in Steubenville. However, it was clear Jones — already a two-year letterman — would be.

“Calvin Jones, a rugged, 180-pounder, showed promise of developing into one of the great ends in Big Red history,” reporter John D. Kirker noted before the 1950 season.

Jones was a wrecking ball on defense, knifing into the backfield to take down ball carriers. The Big Red won eight of their first nine games, only losing to eventual state champion Massillon, 35-12. But in Week 10, coach Ray Hoyman’s club was stunned by rival Weirton, 21-0. Steubenville finished 8-2, ranked ninth in the final AP poll, and Jones was an honorable mention All-Ohioan.

Still, Hoyman though his team lacked toughness up front. Hence, Jones was moved to guard on offense, forcing muscle into the line.

“Why waste him at end?” the coach reasoned in a Sport Magazine story. “Good linemen, tough linemen, are too hard to come by. And Jones is the roughest boy, in a football way, that I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“Cal Jones is the reason I developed a quick release,” Dawson said in his biography. “Nobody could block him, so you had to try (to) do something to stay in one piece.”

Again Steubenville powered its way through the schedule, and again it could not beat Massillon. This time the Tigers scored in the final 10 seconds of a 13-6 thriller.

The Big Red were unscathed through the remainder of the 1951 schedule, including a crucial 13-12 win at Warren Harding. UPI voted Steubenville state champions. Jones was a first-team all-state pick and Ohio’s Lineman of the Year.

He also was the crown jewel of Woody Hayes’ recruiting class at Ohio State. However, at the last minute, Jones reneged. In the summer of 1952, he jumped in a car with his two teammates and childhood friends, Frank Gilliam and Eddie Vincent, and headed for Iowa City. Iowa was the Big Ten doormat and had a new coach in Forest Evashevski. The conference investigated what smelled like an odd recruitment, but found nothing. Jones was cleared to play.

Jones was Iowa’s most highly-touted prospect in more than a decade. He lived up to the hype, too, as a starter from his first day of eligibility in 1953. Iowa was the surprise story of the Big Ten that year, fashioning a 5-3-1 record and ranked ninth in the final poll. Jones earned All-Big Ten accolades and was noted on one All-American team.

Iowa’s 1954 “Gridiron Grapevine” press guide described Jones as “easily the most colorful lineman to enter Big Ten play in the last half century.” On Sept. 27, 1954, Sports Illustrated slapped a fierce, full-page mug shot of Jones on its front — the first time a black man graced the cover.

Unfortunately, just before the season opener against Michigan State, Jones broke his wrist. He could have taken a redshirt season, which Evashevski encouraged him to do. But Jones played through it. His toughness knew no bounds.

The Hawkeyes finished 5-4, winning four Big Ten games for the first time in more than 10 years. Yet Minnesota, Michigan and Ohio State all edged the Hawkeyes by six points or fewer, and the coach viewed it as a season of missed opportunity.

Meanwhile, Jones was a consensus All-American, making 15 different squads across the country.

“(He was) the greatest college football player I ever saw,” said teammate Alex Karras. “Calvin had phenomenal reactions. I’d never seen a man hustle like he hustled. He never stopped running in practice. Never.”

As a senior, Jones battled injuries, but this time they kept him out of a couple of games. Iowa staggered to a 3-5-1 campaign. Still, Jones reeled in the accolades as Evashevski proclaimed him the best lineman he’d ever coached. Jones again was a consensus All-American and captured the 1955 Outland Trophy as the nation’s outstanding lineman. He finished 10th in Heisman Trophy balloting.

Although he was taken by Detroit in the 1956 NFL draft, Jones cast his lot with Winnipeg in the Canadian Football League.

In his only year with the Blue Bombers, he was chosen to participate in the CFL’s postseason all-star game on Dec. 8, 1956, in Vancouver.

The next night, his plane back to Winnipeg was caught in a windstorm and crashed, killing all 61 on board.

It was a stunning end to a spectacular career.

Evashevski insisted the school retire Jones’ No. 62 jersey. On Nov. 15, 1970, Jones was named to the all-time Big Ten team and, in 1980, he was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.

“He left one of the longest shadows on Iowa football for years to come,” reads the enshrinement summary.